6
(You can read the previous chapter HERE.)
The car was parked in the shadow of the trees not far from the gate of the mansion. It was long and black and had a Federal Government license plate. A silent driver sat behind the wheel. The rear seat was empty. Out of sight of the gate and the mansion, hidden among the trees, two men were deep in secret conversation.They had slipped from the car unseen by anyone but Shrevvie.
Both men wore civilian clothes, but both had distinct military bearing.
They were watching the high wall and the gate of the mansion, obviously considering some plan. Suddenly the taller of the two hidden men touched his companion and they both froze in the shadows. The headlights of another car were approaching. The lights suddenly went out but the car came on slowly in the night. This new car stopped out of sight of the gate. It was a New York city taxicab. A man got out. The two men saw the man. They stood up where they were hidden among the trees. The man walked to them from the taxi. It was Lamont Cranston. He stood with the two men, hidden among the trees in the silent night.
Cranston spoke to the taller of the two men. “What brings you out here, General Rogers?”
“Keep it down, Cranston,” the tall General snapped. “I want them to see the car, but not us yet. And I was about to ask you the same question.”
It was obvious that the tall Brigadier General and special aide to the President was not pleased to see Cranston.
“I have business with Secretary Misygyn,” Cranston said simply. He turned to the second man, the lantern-jawed Major John Oates of the CIA. “I gather you two also have some business with our Russian friends?”
Major Oates was curt. “I don’t think we can discuss the matter with you, Cranston. I suggest you leave your business until later. Unless you would care to tell us what business a supplier for Project Full Moon has with the Soviet Mission?”
“Yes, Cranston,” General Rogers said. “Just what business do you have with the Russians?”
Cranston hesitated, or seemed to hesitate. Behind his calm, hooded eyes he was playing the role of the reluctant participant. Actually, he was studying Rogers and Oates. What were they doing out here? How much of all this did they know? Cranston went on with his act. He looked around, and then he reached into his coat pocket and produced a small envelope. He handed it to General Rogers.
“That will explain,” Cranston said. “Commissioner Weston spoke to General Broyard, and to the President, and they agreed to let me work on the matter. I have a rather large international organization in my companies, and I can get information. It is important to me that we locate the trouble with Project Full Moon. I think an unknown civilian force might be able to obtain details the official agencies cannot.”
Rogers handed the authorization paper to Major Oates. The lantern-jawed CIA man studied it with obvious distaste. But the signatures were official and irrefutable. Oates handed the papers back to Cranston.
“Amateurs! What else are they going to do to tie my hands,” Major Oates said bitterly.
Cranston smiled. “Not quite an amateur, Major. I have had considerable experience with Commissioner Weston. I think you may need all the help you can get, and my companies are widespread. For example, I gather you are both here for some real purpose, and it would not surprise me if it was connected to my purpose for being here—if the two purposes are not identical. So, you see, I may not be so useless, Major.”
“Just what is your purpose, Cranston.” General Rogers said warily.
“A small suspicion about Federal Cybernetics,” the wealthy socialite said quietly. “Since General Broyard and Commissioner Weston instructed me to work on the matter, I have had my company personnel watching the various other suppliers of the Full Moon Project. At Federal Cybernetics they discovered a woman scientist in the General Laboratory who was not all she was supposed to be. Her name is Dr. Freda Talent. She has been acting oddly, and a check on her past reveals that she is not known at some of the references she gave to get her position! Then, just tonight, my men observed her leaving the laboratory with some strange men and another senior scientist at the lab. She seemed reluctant to go with these men. In fact, she acted as if she were being abducted. So my people followed and alerted me. Here I am.”
There was a silence in the night on the road in front of the wall as Oates and Rogers looked at each other. Cranston watched them carefully from behind his impassive eyes. He had told the story of the disguised Margo to throw them off in case they too were suspicious of her, also to make himself look detached and alert if they knew about Dr. Freda Talent. He wanted to divert them from considering any possible connection between Margo and himself—or The Shadow.
The work and identity of The Shadow had to be protected at all costs. Only in anonymity could the black Avenger do his work of justice. But Rogers and Oates seemed to have no suspicions.
General Rogers nodded at last to the CIA Major.
“Tell him what we have learned, Major,” Rogers said.
Oates was still reluctant, but he told. “We had a report from our undercover people at Federal about one of the senior scientists. I have had my eye on this man, Otto Reigen, for some time. He is a defector from the USSR many years ago. We’ve never been sure of him. But until recently he gave us no cause for real suspicion. Now he has. I think he is a Soviet agent—a long-term plant.
We figure he was sent here to be used in some extreme emergency, and laid low and clean all this time. He began to act strange about a month ago, made contacts with a known Soviet courier. We even traced him to a man we think is a top agent. Maybe even Colonel Derian himself, we can’t be sure.”
Cranston’s hooded eyes showed nothing. He listened as if the name of Colonel Derian meant no more to him than the name of a total stranger. From his face no one could have guessed that only minutes earlier he had been watching Colonel Derian himself. Oates saw nothing, but the eyes of the taciturn Major almost glowed when he mentioned Derian.
“We’ve been after Colonel Derian a long, long time. He’s the best and coldest counter-agent I ever ran into. Even his own spies fear him. If we could just get Derian out of all this it would be worthwhile,” Oates said.
“I think that Project Full Moon’s success is a bit more vital, Major,” Cranston said.
“Yes,” General Rogers agreed. “Go on with what we know, Major.”
Rogers nodded. “Well, when we realized that Reigen could be a Soviet agent after all, it seemed likely that he is the key to the sabotage of Full Moon. Then tonight we saw him leave with the woman. She was clearly reluctant to go, so our man followed also. He reported to us.”
General Rogers took it up. “I discussed the matter with the President, and he agreed that it is all very delicate. If Reigen has been tampering, or simply spying, we need strong proof before we act. To merely stop Reigen would be useless, they would only replace him. Also, time is a factor—we must get Full Moon off the ground soon. Off the record, Cranston, our own espionage in Russia convinces us that the Soviet space people are also farther ahead than weexpected! So we have a choice: we can continue undercover and attempt to expose and smash the sabotage effort; or we can come out into the open and let the Soviet know that we know of their activities and that way make them stop. Since the matter is not a military one, we think that this will work. We tell them what we know, and warn them to call it off or be exposed. I think they will not want to lose face in the eyes of the world, and will cease their activities rather than be exposed to the ridicule of spying on a civilian project we are all supposed to be neutral about.
After all, both sides have said that the Moon should be a cooperative venture.”
Cranston half smiled. “A cooperative venture in which both sides, us and them, are frantically trying to be first!”
General Rogers shrugged. “Be that as it may, Cranston, we have our immediate problem.
Oates prefers the undercover approach, as he would. It is more important to Oates to catch spies than to prevent them spying.”
Cranston smiled at Oates. “The professional mind, Major? The form not the substance, eh?
Catch the spy even if it wrecks your project.”
Oates bristled. “Catching spies is my job. If you don’t catch them today, they spy on something else tomorrow. Sometimes we have to sacrifice a project to save future projects.”
Cranston nodded. “A good statement of the bureaucratic mind. However, I gather that the President and General Broyard disagree this time, as I do, or General Rogers would not be here.”
“Right,” Rogers said. “We decided to wait until Reigen contacted known Soviet officials.
Tonight he has done so with the abducted woman, if she was abducted. It could be just an act.
She could be in with them. You said yourself, Cranston, that she has been acting strangely.”
“She has,” Cranston said.
“So,” Rogers said. “We are here for two purposes. Oates will observe and see what he can detect. I will make an official call and let Misygyn know that we are on to him.”
Cranston frowned in the night. “One thing bothers me, General, and that is the woman. If she was taken by force, then they may be alert and reluctant to show us anything. I think that with her in their hands they are exposed. If we just walk in they will cover up, and neither Oates nor I will see anything. It is, after all, technically Soviet territory we invade. They can refuse Oates and myself entry.”
“What bothers me is giving them warning!” Oates said. “We should try to catch them cold, catch them in the act! That way we might even get Colonel Derian!”
Rogers was angry, his voice almost hissed low in the night. “We are not interested in getting them! We are interested in stopping them. We must get off the next shot and land our men on the Moon. If we can stop them long enough for that one shot, it will be all settled, and we won’t have to get them—they’ll quit!”
“Perhaps,” Cranston said quietly, “We can do a little of both.”
The two men looked at the wealthy socialite.
“What?” Rogers said.
“What’s on your mind, Cranston?” Oates said.
Cranston was thoughtful. “Just this. If we are right, and they have abducted this woman, they are vulnerable. A little careful observation in secret might show us some clues. At least, it is a chance and better than either speculating or walking in and letting them see all of us and cover up. On the other hand, since this is an essentially non-military matter, letting them know that we are aware of their sabotage, and will inform the world of it, might just be enough to make them desist and prevent any more sabotage.”
“How do we do both?” Oates snapped.
“By sending General Rogers in on an open official visit,” Cranston said, “and by you and I going in under cover and seeing what we can locate while General Rogers keeps them busy! Of course, we would have to go in first. We might see quite a lot. They are undoubtedly aware by now that the official car is here, but they don’t know how many of us there are. If the General makes an official visit, with his driver, they might very well let down their guard.”
Rogers and Oates said nothing. The two military men in their civilian clothes stood hidden in the shadows and seemed to be considering the proposal from all angles. Cranston waited—he had not, of course, mentioned his major reason for the plan. That was to have time for The Shadow to free Margo without the two men being aware of the connection between Cranston and the black-garbed Avenger. At last Oates spoke.
“I suppose it’s better than nothing, given that we want to do both things.”
Rogers agreed. “Yes, it’s not bad. The primary object is to try to prevent any further sabotage, and I think we have the best chance with Cranston’s plan. But I must be sure they do not get wind of any trick. I think Cranston is right that you two should go in first. Oates can get to the front of the house, inside if possible, and Cranston can go to the rear. There will probably be guards, so you’ll have to be careful. I’ll give you ten minutes to get into position before I make my official call.”
The plan was just what Cranston wanted. The socialite nodded his agreement. “Good. Then I suggest we get started.”
As he prepared to go over the wall again, Cranston did not tell them that he knew that there were no guards, and that the dogs were still under the power of The Shadow. He knew that there would be no trouble getting to the house. After that, The Shadow would take charge!
“Synchronize our watches.” Oates said.
The three men set their watches in unison. General Rogers nodded to Oates and Cranston.
“Ten minutes then. After that I make my official call,” Rogers said.
The two men nodded. They vanished into the night in opposite directions.
In the broad parklike grounds of the Soviet mansion again nothing seemed to move. The dogs were silent. No guards walked the grounds. Nothing moved until, behind the house, part of the night itself seemed to detach and float across the open space to the window of the office that was open. The fiery eyes of The Shadow appeared again at the open window.
Inside the dim office still lighted only by the single light on the desk of Misygyn, the official himself, Vaslov and Colonel Derian were talking. There was no sign of Margo or the two armed men. Misygyn seemed very uneasy. Vaslov seemed afraid. Only Colonel Derian was in full control of himself.
“What is going on at the gate, eh?” Derian said in Russian.
Misygyn shrugged. “I don’t know, Colonel. The car is there, that is all the electronic scanner shows. Perhaps our potential visitor is deciding on his course of action. It is an unusual hour for an official call. Perhaps our caller is re-evaluating his position.”
“Who could it be?” Vaslov asked nervously.
“Probably someone looking for information,” Derian said. “Whoever it may be, Misygyn, get rid of him fast. We have much work to do on Dr. Talent. I am anxious to get to it. Until the visitor goes I will keep her under guard in the room downstairs. After that I wish to be alone with her, is that clear?”
Misygyn showed distaste on his face. “Do not tell me the details of your work, Derian. I would rather not know. I will help you as much as necessary, but I will not participate. Is that clear?”
Colonel Derian smiled his cobra smile. “Quite clear, my dear Excellency. You have no compunctions about using my results, but you are squeamish about how they are obtained! Ah, what has happened to the men of the Revolution? Where are the men who broke the eggs to make Lenin’s omlette? We grow soft, Misygyn, much too soft. Down in my room, alone, there is no softness!”
Outside the window the glowing eyes of The Shadow watched the snake-like Colonel.
Inside him the hatred swelled for this man with the eyes and the soul of a cobra. But Derian had told The Shadow the one thing he had to know—Margo was down in the secret room directly beneath the office! While Rogers was in the office, Margo would be guarded only by the two armed men.
Inside him the hatred swelled for this man with the eyes and the soul of a cobra. But Derian had told The Shadow the one thing he had to know—Margo was down in the secret room directly beneath the office! While Rogers was in the office, Margo would be guarded only by the two armed men.
Colonel Derian and Vaslov would not be in the secret room, they would probably be in the next room to the office listening. It was all that The Shadow needed—to have them all separate and unaware of the danger from The Shadow.
The intercom on Misygyn’s desk suddenly buzzed in the silence of the office. Vaslov jumped a foot. Colonel Derian sneered at the scientist. Misygyn flicked the button on his intercom.
“Yes?” Misygyn said, and listened. The two other men waited.
“General Ropers?” Misygyn said, and the diplomat looked hard at the other two. “Send him in.”
Misygyn clicked off his intercom and sat back. “Brigadier General Calvin Rogers. I know him well. A special assistant to the United States President. What do you make of it Derian?”
“They are worried about Project Full Moon, of course,” the Colonel said. “I imagine he is going to pump you. They must have learned of our accelerated schedule. Leave your intercom key open, Misygyn. We will listen in the next room. Come, Vaslov.”
The tall Colonel led the small scientist from the office just as the outer door opened. Calvin Rogers entered the room. The General looked around, but there was no evidence now of anyone else having been with Misygyn. The diplomat stood and smiled at Rogers as he extended his hand. The two men shook hands, and Misygyn waved Rogers to a seat. Rogers sat down.
“What can I do for you, General?” Misygyn asked smoothly. “You call at an odd hour.”
“It is a matter that has no normal hours, Excellency,” Rogers said grimly.
“Ah?” Misygyn said. “That important? Surely you could have conducted it through the normal channels? My Government does not approve of, how do you say, personal diplomacy?
We leave such old-fashioned methods to our British and French friends.”
“I don’t think your Government would appreciate this matter going through the normal channels. Those channels have many leaks. I think your Government would want this kept quiet, Misygyn.”
“So?” the Russian diplomat said. “What would we want kept so quiet, my dear General?
Surely you know that my Government has no secrets from the world?”
“I won’t bother to laugh at that one, Excellency,” Ropers said drily, “but I will repeat that we think that you would not want it broadcast around the world that, after all your pious pleas for peaceful cooperation in space, you are sabotaging our peaceful efforts to reach the Moon.”
Misygyn jumped to his feet. “You dare to accuse the Government of The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of sabotage!? A direct accusation that we are sabotaging Full Moon? You will please leave my office at… .”
Rogers smiled. “How did you know that I referred to Project Full Moon? How did you even know about Full Moon? It is a top secret project, as you must know, and not our regular Moon Project. How did you know about Full Moon, Excellency?”
Misygyn slowly sat down, smiled. “Ah, yes, a slip of the tongue, eh? All right, General, we are aware of Project Full Moon. We have our sources of information, as you know. But we are not sabotaging! In fact, since you bring it up, our major interest is what you… .”
The two quick shots echoed like blows in the dark night! Misygyn froze.
General Rogers jumped up and half-turned toward the door.
The Shadow, at the window, had listened to the conversation, and had been just about to begin his task of freeing Margo. He was already studying the darkened windows on the other side of the mansion.
When the two shots ripped the silent night The Shadow’s burning eyes watched the reaction in the office of the Russians. Margo must be freed—if the shots had not been her death blow!
To Be Continued
MONDAY
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